Official League WebsiteCal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League top 30 prospects (list)Perfect Game Summer Collegiate top prospect coverageHunter
Renfroe was selected the Cal Ripken League’s top prospect in 2011
on the strength of his ability to hit tape-measure home runs as a
power-hitting catcher, while lighting up radar guns to the tune of
98-99 mph as a strong-armed relief pitcher.
Even
with a move this summer to center field in his return to the Bethesda
Big Train, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Renfroe was so dominant that he
only enhanced his standing as the league’s No. 1 prospect. He set a
league record for home runs before the 2012 season was barely half
over, and established numerous other offensive records. The Cal
Ripken League, as a whole, was one of a number of summer leagues to
witness a pronounced spike in home runs this summer, jumping from 287
to 469, but few if any of Renfroe’s blasts were artificially aided
by a souped-up baseball in use this summer.
As
dominant a season as the Mississippi State product had, though, it
was not enough to lift the Big Train, the nation’s No. 1-ranked
summer-league team in 2011, to a fourth-straight league title. The
Big Train managed to win 19 of 20 games in one mid-season stretch
when it was running on all cylinders and Renfroe was on fire, but it
otherwise had little to show for the 2012 season from a team
perspective.
Bethesda’s
chances of winning another regular-season title was essentially
doomed by a slow start when the team was missing several key players,
including Renfroe, and its hopes for a post-season crown were all but
dashed with the loss of several key arms late in the season. A
blue-collar Rockville Express unexpectedly finished first during the
season, while the Baltimore Redbirds were victorious in the playoffs,
beating the Big Train 4-3 in the deciding game of the league’s
championship series—even as Renfroe launched a two-run homer, his
third in three playoff games.
Symbolic
of their final-game showdown, Baltimore and Bethesda dominated the
accompanying list of the league’s top 30 prospects, with 15
selections between them. The Redbirds outnumbered the Big Train, 8-7,
but there was a significant gap between Renfroe, a likely
first-rounder in the 2013 draft, and the rest of the field.FAST
FACTS
Year
League Established: 2005.States
Represented in League: Maryland,
Virginia.No.
of Teams in League: 10 (9 in 2011).Regular-Season
Champion: Rockville Express (30-11).Post-Season
Champion: Baltimore Redbirds.Teams,
PG CrossChecker Summer 50/Final Ranking:
No. 9 Baltimore Redbirds; No. 30 Rockville Express; No. 42 Bethesda
Big Train.No.
1 Prospect, 2011 (per PG CrossChecker):
Hunter Renfroe, c/rhp, Bethesda Big Train (Mississippi; played for
Bethesda Big Train in 2012).First
2011 Player Selected, 2012 Draft:
Martin Agosta, rhp, Bethesda Big Train (St. Mary’s, Calif./Giants,
2nd round).Most
Valuable Player: Hunter Renfroe, of,
Bethesda Big Train.Most
Outstanding Pitcher: Corey Taylor,
rhp, Baltimore Redbirds.Top
Prospect (as selected by league):
Hunter Renfroe, of, Bethesda Big Train.BATTING
LEADERS (League games only)
Batting
Average: Bret Williams, 1b, Vienna
River Dogs (.433).Slugging
Percentage: Hunter Renfroe, of,
Bethesda Big Train (.866).On-Base
Average: James Vasquez, 1b, Herndon
Braves (.552).Home
Runs: Hunter Renfroe, of, Bethesda
Big Train (16).RBIs:
Hunter Renfroe, of, Bethesda Big Train (53).Stolen
Bases: Bill Root, of, Southern
Maryland Nationals (27).
PITCHING
LEADERS (League games only)
Wins:
Corey Taylor, rhp, Baltimore Redbirds; Joe Vanderplas, lhp, Vienna
River Dogs (6).ERA:
Corey Taylor, rhp, Baltimore Redbirds (2.76).Saves:
Joe Harvey, rhp, Baltimore Redbirds (6).Strikeouts:
Connor Bach, lhp, Vienna River Dogs (56).BEST
TOOLS
Best
Athlete: K.J. Hockaday, 3b/ss,
Youse’s Maryland OriolesBest
Hitter: Brendan Hendriks, 3b,
Bethesda Big TrainBest
Power: Hunter Renfroe, of/c,
Bethesda Big TrainFastest
Base Runner: Brendan Butler, of,
Youse’s Maryland OriolesBest
Defensive Player: Patrick Blair,
ss/2b, Baltimore RedbirdsBest
Velocity: Hunter Renfroe, of/rhp,
Bethesda Big TrainBest
Breaking Ball: Corey Taylor, rhp,
Baltimore RedbirdsBest
Command: Corey Taylor, rhp,
Baltimore RedbirdsTOP
30 PROSPECTS
1.
HUNTER RENFROE, of/c/rhp, Bethesda Big Train (Mississippi State/JR in
2013)SCOUTING
PROFILE: Renfroe holds the
distinction of being ranked the Cal Ripken League’s No. 1 prospect
in consecutive years, even as he spent 2011 for Bethesda as mostly a
catcher and relief pitcher, and 2012 as a center fielder. He is
viewed as a legitimate big-league prospect at all three positions.
His versatility and prolific power approach in multiple phases of his
game speak to his athleticism and set him apart from any other
prospect in the 2013 draft class. He has prodigious power at the
plate, both for distance and frequency. Many of his league-record 16
homers this summer were tape-measure shots, and often came in
clusters. He set the mark by homering four times in a two-day period,
and went deep in all three playoff games to extend his total on the
summer to 19 in just 39 games. On his way to also establishing a
league record for RBIs in a season with 53 (10 more than the previous
mark), he drove in four or more runs in a game five times. Overall,
he hit .366 and posted a gaudy .866 slugging average, yet another
league record. A year ago, as a seldom-used freshman out of
Mississippi State, Renfroe hit .305-8-30 with a league-best .581
slugging average in the Ripken League. Those totals were achieved
largely in his dual role as the Big Train’s primary catcher and
part-time reliever, and his move this summer to center field, a
less-demanding position defensively that he played flawlessly,
enabled him to focus on the offensive side of his game after he hit
just .252-4-25, with a team-high 16 doubles, as a sophomore at
Mississippi State, where he was forced to adapt to the school’s
hit-and-run style of offense. Allowed the freedom to just swing the
bat unencumbered this summer, Renfroe went on an offensive explosion.
Not only did he greatly expand on his spring numbers in his return
engagement to the Big Train, but he made adjustments to tighten the
holes in his set-up and approach in the process. He learned to
stop pulling off everything and started hitting breaking balls with
more authority to all fields, and also
exhibited better plate discipline (26 BB/28 SO in summer, 21 BB/51 SO
in spring), though his massive swing looked especially raw on those
occasions when he would swing-and-miss at pitches. With 6.6 second
speed in the 60 and a powerful throwing arm, Renfroe has the basic
tools to play center field at the pro level, but may actually be a
better fit in the long run as a right fielder for those big-league
teams that may profile him as an outfielder. With arm strength that
equates to an 80 on the standard 20-80 scouting scale, enabling him
to coincidentally peak at 98-99 mph off a mound in short bursts, and
record pop times as low as 1.7-1.75 seconds behind the plate,
Renfroe’s upside may be greatest as a pitcher or catcher. But he
didn’t pitch at all as a sophomore at Mississippi State and worked
in just two brief appearances for the Big Train (2-1/3 IP, 5 SO), and
also played sparingly behind the plate in the spring and summer.
He’ll need to expand his playing time next spring at either or both
positions to be considered a legitimate prospect at either, as he has
had limited time over the last year to improve his receiving and
blocking skills behind the plate, and develop a second pitch on the
mound, though he has shown the makings of an impressive slider in
limited looks in the past. It’s a given that Renfroe’s power, arm
strength and speed are all superior tools. Ultimately his ability to
develop his catching skills may determine whether he is groomed as a
catcher or outfielder, and his ability to evolve into a more-complete
hitter may determine whether he becomes a position player or pitcher.
In a perfect world, his greatest upside and quickest path to the big
leagues would be as a catcher.

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